Dear Members 

As mentioned in the message to you on 21 July, the club is moving its website to Pitchero.  The new site Old Loughtonians (oldloughts.co.uk) is still under construction but will go live in mid August. 

From that date all communication with members will be through the new site, so we need everyone please to register as soon as possible so that you receive the messages about training, availability and selection.  You can pay later but please register now if you want to train and play. 

We have transferred brief details of all members to the Pitchero database.

One important difference between the way Clubbuzz holds member information and how Pitchero does this, is that the latter requires parents of under 14s to have their own record (sometimes called an “account”) on the database, as well as one for their youngster. It is the parent record which will contain the contact email address. Their record will then be linked to their children's records (where the email field will be blank). We have actually created some new parent accounts based on information held in Clubbuzz for this purpose.

Since Pitchero also does not allow one email address to be used for more than one member record, we have had to use the “parent master record linked to child record method” for some 14 to 18 year olds, where there was more than one sibling using the same parental email address on Clubbuzz.

Practical steps 

Adults, Youth and senior Colts 

1. Your name, gender, date of birth and email address (in most cases) have been transferred to the Pitchero website.
2. You will each receive an invitation directly from Pitchero to log in and register. Please check inbox and junk folders as your membership will not be finalised until you have logged in to confirm details.   If you do not confirm your email address the club will not be able to contact you.
3. We have attempted to set you up with the appropriate “role” (eg Player, Coach, Manager, Parent), but if you think this is wrong you can “apply” for additional roles.
4. Fill in your registration details and please upload a photo if you are an officer, coach, captain or manager.  This will be used on the contacts page Contact Old Loughtonians (oldloughts.co.uk) 
5. For parents of under 14s, we have aimed to link you to your offspring, but you can use the drop-down list to link others if we have missed any. Use the “Add new child” option where you have a new youngster wanting to join the club.

Pitchero Club App – all members 

Once you are registered as a member please download the club Pitchero App  Pitchero Club App - Download Now  This is what will now be used by every team to manage selection, note availability and for squad communication generally.     

Captains and managers will be using the Pitchero Manager App.

Junior members who are part of an adult squad are expected to have downloaded the club app and be responsible for notifying availability and accepting selection for club matches (parents will be copied in to all correspondence).

Membership Fees 

Pitchero uses a different payment system to Clubbuzz.  All membership categories are described as “Products”.  Harriet Chere (your membership secretary) has individually allocated the correct membership product to each existing member (for example Adult member or Colt member).  Payments can be made using Stripe or GoCardless and can be made in one lump sum or in 8 monthly instalments.  Products are either individual or family based and where applicable include the discounts for volunteer roles and umpiring.  Please do not try to change the allocated product. If you think it is no longer the correct membership category for you please contact Harriet (membership@oldloughtonians.co.uk ) or John in the office (OLHC@oldloughtonians.co.uk).  Fees as before are payable with effect from 1 September and “ no pay, no play” as always.

When the new site is live you will be able to see the membership details on this webpage. Membership in Brief (oldloughts.co.uk)

Feedback 

A lot of time has been spent trying to get everything in place ahead of the new season.  Please have a look at all of the Information pages (what used to be called “About the Club”) and the Team pages and the Contacts and Gallery and let us know if you have any suggestions or would like to volunteer for any role in the club.  Please familiarise yourself with the messages page on the app which will be your contact with your captain, coach and manager for the season.